Boise State Not All It's Hyped Up To Be

I would like to announce my return to Bleacher Report by giving my thoughts on Boise State.  Granted, I am trying only to get my feet wet here as I haven't written an article in over two years and I'm pounding this out on a lunch break, so forgive the lack of statistical evidence to support some claims.  This is more of an editorial I suppose, so take it for what it is.

To start, I will say Boise State is one of the best teams in the nation.  I will also say that they do not deserve to play for the national championship.  Oh, how the media loves this darling school that never gets its due!  However, in the way the BCS is currently set up, strength of schedule has to play a huge factor in deciding who deserves a shot at the title.  I am not going to get into the flaws of the BCS here, but under the current set up, Boise State does not have the credentials to play for a national championship if they go undefeated unless a perfect storm comes together.  Basically, I am saying that there has to be one or fewer undefeated teams from the Big 10, Big 12, and SEC combined.  Simply put, schools in these conferences play games week in and week out that compare with what was considered far and wide the landmark game on Boise State's schedule (Week 1 vs.  Va Tech).

Boise State would need to prove itself over and over to deserve a shot at the title.  They don't get the chance to prove themselves, and that's not their fault.  It is, however, true.  Playing only two teams who are ranked pre-season and none higher than ten is not a difficult schedule.  Fill out the rest of the games with teams like Nevada or Fresno being the most legitimate challenger and northwestern darlings have a cupcake ride to another no loss season.  A cupcake ride.  Going undefeated should never be that easy. But as long as Boise got past Va Tech, that's what undefeated was going to be.  Easy.

Ohio State plays Penn State, Iowa, etc.  They also play their second week game against Miami.  Add that to a demanding conference schedule, and who's to say that this team doesn't deserve a shot even if they lose once?!  Alabama has to play Penn State without Mark Ingram, no easy task.  Throw in the Florida game, an always tough Auburn at the end of the year, and likely another Florida game.  This team could go one loss and still have proved more than Boise State.  That's just two examples.  I am going to keep this article short and sweet without delving into any statistics from the Va Tech game, but Boise was not really as impressive on offense as 33 points indicates.  There were some questionable calls (pass interference at the end, late hit on Boise’s winning drive, and no block in the back on the punt all inside of three minutes) that seemed to favor Boise.  I don't want to make excuses for Va Tech, which I do not think is the tenth best team in the nation by any means, but they probably were the better team on the field Monday night.  Boise showed great grit and poise to battle back after they blew an early lead that they should have never relented (and that top tier teams will never relent against inferior opponents) but I'm not sold.

All respect in the world to what Boise has built in the last half-decade.  They are an exciting team to watch and the world loves their novelty blue turf.  Except they will be feeling blue themselves after another undefeated campaign finds them on the outside looking in, and rightfully so.